Withdrawal
by Scooby-Doo Bandaid
Summary: Sequel to "Herion". Rated M for adult themes and language.
1. Small Blue Thing

Hey guys...

New story. It's the sequel to "Herion."

I know the song Small Blue Thing by Suzanne Vega came out in the 1980's but we'll pretend otherwise for the story. Author's creative liberties and shit like that, right?

Anyway... If you don't know the song you should probably listen to it before you read the story. It's on youtube: /watch?v=B4nRVwI37OI

* * *

"Today I am a small blue thing… Like a marble, or an eye…"

"Do you guys hear that?" Jackie asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Jackie, I didn't hear anything." Kelso said, chuckling at his girlfriend.

"No, I hear it too." Said Fez, nodding at Jackie.

"See?" Jackie slapped Kelso's shoulder, "I'm not crazy! You think I'm crazy don't you?"

"Chill, Jackie!"

"No Michael, I will not chill! There's some creepy voice coming from upstairs and it's not Eric and Mr. and Mrs. Forman are on vacation!"

"But Fez is crazy!"

"Hey!"

"It's Eric." Said Donna, finally looking up from the ground.

"What?" the three others asked in unison.

"He's been playing these songs by this strange Suzanne Vega lady ever since…" Everyone was silent, acknowledging the unspoken words. It'd been a month, but they'd only seen Eric about five times. He let them in, he made an excuse to go upstairs, and he never came down. He looked sick and pale and skinnier than usual, but he got angry if anyone asked him if he was okay. 'No,' he would respond, 'what the hell do you think?' And then he would say the three words that had puzzled the gang ever since they first heard them uttered from his lips. 'He never knew.' "Okay, that's it." Said Donna, not being able to take the silence. She got up and started towards the stairs.

"What's it?" Asked Kelso, somewhat graver than usual. Then again, they all were.

"We're getting his ass out of his freaking room!" Donna screamed, already at the top of the stairs. Kelso got up, glancing at Jackie and Fez.

"Look, you guys should go…"

"Why?" Asked Fez innocently.

"Because… There's gonna be some crying and some screaming and you don't really want to be here when that happens."

"Are _you_ staying?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's go." Said Fez suddenly, "I can't see Eric cry." Jackie's face softened at Fez's rather serious comment. She shook her head, getting up. Tears gathered at her eyes so she kept her head down.

"Okay, okay. C'mon Fez." She said, running out of the room with Fez following her. Kelso sighed softly and jogged upstairs. As he got closer the music grew louder.

"I am raining down in pieces. I am scattering like light. Scattering like light. Scattering like light." Kelso found his way to Eric's room. Donna was just outside of it. She was sobbing hysterically. Shuddering and shrouded by anger, desperation, and misery, she was gasping for breath. Tears poured down her eyes, her face was red and blotchy, her small full-lipped mouth hung open just the slightest bit. Kelso wondered what Eric could have done that had made her so upset. He leaned down and touched her back. She looked up to see him, seemingly trying to say something but nothing coming out. Kelso decided to ask Eric and leave the poor girl to breathe.

"Eric." Kelso said, opening the door.

"Today I am a small blue thing. Made of china, made of glass." Kelso's breath stopped as he saw the sight before him. The small white ovals were pouring out just a little outside of the yellow cup with the white label and black lettering of a prescription. Eric was sprawled on the floor. "I am cold against your skin. I am perfectly reflected. I am lost inside your pocket. I am lost against your fingers." Kelso gripped Eric's shoulders, shaking him violently. Nothing. He closed his eyes and let out some kind of noise, but his ears were deaf to everything except that wretched song. "With my knees against my mouth I am perfectly round. I am watching you. I am cool and smooth and curious, I never blink." Eric's eyes were wide open, staring into nothing. "I am turning in your hand." Kelso was screaming now, or crying. He couldn't tell. "Turning in your hand." For some reason the very, very stupid part of his brain was thinking about when people died of drug overdoses in movies. What did they do? How could he react to this? The woman would scream, and then the big macho guy would go over and take the pulse… Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait! Fuck. Wait. Maybe… Kelso didn't dare hope. He placed two fingers on Eric's wrist and waited. "Small blue thing…" The song was ending. Fuck, the song was ending. But he felt it. Holy hell he felt it. Small, slow, weak, but steady pulse… Veins blue and showing through the skinny wrist-- but it was there. There was a pulse in the small blue things.


	2. Sunny Came Home

Hey people. Second chapter. Bit more fluffy.

This time the song is Sunny Come Home by Shawn Colvin. Again, you should listen to it before you read the story.

It's on youtube: /watch?v=g0nKrD5If7U&feature=related

* * *

"Count the years, you always knew it. Strike a match, go on and do it." Some kind of poppy folk song was playing in the background, but there was no accounting for tastes in this place. The hospital was hell, after all. Eric wasn't awake yet and it was too early in the morning so Jackie and Fez didn't know. Kelso and Donna sat in a comfortable silence in the waiting room. There was one man inside Eric's room, Dr. Liender. Finally, they saw his straggly bearded face exiting the room. "What's going on with him?" Kelso asked, the eyes of an innocent little boy looking up fearfully.

"He's alright. You can go and see him now, but he's a little drugged out."

"Thanks." Donna said, and her and Kelso got up to go into the hospital room. Eric's eyes were lidded slightly, but open nonetheless. He was conscious. Donna immediately burst into tears and gave Eric the best hug she could while he was lying in a hospital bed. She said a few things but they were murmured into Eric's sheets and muddled together with the tears. It sounded something like, "You're a freaking idiot and if you ever do that again I'll hunt you down and drag you out of the afterlife and kill you again just for the hell of it." And then something like, "I love you, you're like my brother. You're such a retard." Slowly, Donna raised her head. "I've gotta get some air." She said, and walked out. Kelso figured something like that would happen. Donna had told him she was shaking and she didn't know how long she could stay in the hospital. She just let Eric know how much she cared and then she had to leave. Kelso sighed, looking deep into Eric's eyes. Searching. For what, he didn't know.

"Hey." He finally said, hand brushing Eric's cheek. He didn't know why he did this but he felt the need to. It was how he'd comfort a girl but he didn't bother analyzing it too much.

"Hi…" Eric said, cautious of any sudden outbursts or loud reactions like Donna's. Kelso licked his lips, they suddenly felt very dry. Eric's eyes closed for a brief moment but he opened them again, like a very long blink. "He never knew." Eric repeated the words. Kelso didn't ask, he waited for Eric to explain on his own. "Hyde… He never knew I loved him." Kelso's eyebrows rose to a whole knew level.

"You loved Hyde? Like that?" He asked. Eric nodded, seemingly ashamed.

"I know. It's horrible but--"

"Whoa, hold on." Kelso said. "It's not horrible… It's normal. I just didn't expect it. I mean, hey, I'm fluid."

"Fluid?"

"It's a sexual orientation, with the bisexual community… It's like… You know, pansexual. Gender-blind. The motto is you love who you love and that's that." Eric was silent for Kelso hadn't really said anything that smart in his entire life, in Eric's point of view, and it was astonishing. They were silent for a while before Eric finally spoke up.

"He never knew."

"He knew." Eric's head shot up,

"What do you mean?"

"I remember… You were holding him when he was fading, right? You felt like something was wrong so you were out looking for him and you stopped at the photo hut and there he was. And you held him while he was going away, and he probably knew it was you. If you were holding him he knew you loved him." Eric looked like he was about to cry.

"R-really? Do you think so?" He asked, starting to tear up.

"Yeah." Kelso said, smiling slightly. Eric started sobbing quietly in his bed. Kelso was sitting on the edge so he rubbed his back a bit. Eventually, he didn't know quite how it happened, he was holding Eric in his arms. The stupid hospital song was still playing in the background.

"Days go by I'm hypnotized, I'm walking on a wire. I close my eyes and fly out of my mind, into the fire." Eric pulled back and looked up at Kelso.

"Can I go home soon?" He asked. Kelso nodded,

"I think so. When they were… you know… to you they told us you could leave the next afternoon. So, like another hour or two."

"I want to go home…" Eric said, quite pathetically. Kelso bit his lip, something that he usually did before he acted on another stupid impulse.

"Alright." Eric raised his eyebrow,

"What?"

"I said alright." said Kelso.

"But, how--"

"Hold on." Kelso walked out of the room and stopped a nurse that was passing by. "Hey, um, this patient is about to be discharged but he needs a wheelchair… Would you mind getting one?" The nurse nodded and ran for one as Kelso used his dashing smile. He had one in a second. Wheeling it in to Eric's room he grinned, "hop in." Eric grumbled something about not feeling manly but he complied. Kelso began to wheel him out but they got stopped by an evil looking nurse with an even more evil looking glare.

"Are you boys allowed to leave right now? I don't see a doctor with you." Kelso growled,

"What do you think you're doing." He said, shaking his head with a menacing look on his face. The nurse was taken aback.

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me. FBI, this guys been undercover for four fucking weeks in this place. Trying to get some kind of Japanese serial killer who likes to hide in hospitals and kill nurses." Suddenly the young nurse looked frightened.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked, her voice betraying her.

"You know what the hell I'm talking about. Get out of my way or get fired and shunned by your nation." Kelso said angrily. The lady nodded quickly and ran away. Kelso wheeled Eric through the rest of the hospital with a successful smile on his face.

"You're gonna pay for that." Eric said, laughing.

"But it was totally worth it."

"Yeah. That was kick ass, man!" They both were chuckling and joking as they exited the hospital. The song was ending softly in the background, rather fitting.

"Light the sky and hold on tight, the world is burning down. She's out there on her own and she's alright. Sunny came home. Sunny came home…"


End file.
